GUIDA ALLA PROMOZIONE GIGALIZE

Before we jump
into theory, remember: There’s nothing
more crucial for your campaign’s success than your passion. Don’t be afraid
to show and express how much you want this gig to happen. From setting up your
campaign to communicating it, always convey your passion and create emotional
connection with you audience.

Gigalize
Tools

We have made
available easy-to-use tools that can get maximum attention and support for your
campaigns or other campaigns you support. Below you will find suggested ways to
use them, but before you start sharing, remember: Always stay relevant -
spamming rarely motivates people support your cause.

One-click sharing to Facebook/Twitter

In every campaign, you’ll find Facebook and Twitter buttons that enable you to
easily share it on Facebook or Twitter with just one click. You have the option
to either use the automatically generated messages or customize them for a more
personal touch. Make sure you include a clear call to action (e.g. Click here
and support my campaign on gigalize.com) to avoid useless likes or favorites
and guide your audience to actively support your campaign on Gigalize.

Unique Campaign Link

Every campaign has its own, unique, automatically generated link. Post it
anywhere you feel that people will notice and click on it: a website/blog
comment section, a chat service, a forum, your Facebook/Twitter bio or your
Skype status.

Embeddable Widget

We have built a special widget that can be embedded on any blog or website
easily and is designed to look good anywhere, getting more attention and
helping you show your cause with pride. The Gigalize widget is optimized to
display the current status of a campaign at a glance, making it easy for
everyone to check on your campaign’s progress.

Creating your campaign on Gigalize is just the first step. Take full ownership
of it. Commit to a plan built on what you can find here, but allow for
flexibility. Each campaign is different. Trial and error is a natural part of
the process. Embrace it.

Pro-tip 1: Do some research and find
contact details of local fan clubs and mailing lists of the artist you want to
see live. They can be an excellent source of supporters.

Pro-tip 2: Be ready to talk about
your campaign in public. Word of mouth is an excellent way to onboard
supporters.

Pro-tip 3: Create a unique
hashtag for your campaign, including the name of the artist/band and the place
you want to bring them to.

Pro-tip 4: Try to create a personal video for your
campaign. Viral videos are tough to manufacture and predict. However, if
you have an emotionally charged video, you have a better shot of the campaign
breaking out of your primary network and be shared by people and mediums you
have never heard of.

Step 2- Reach out to your first supporters.

If you haven't already, handpick 15 to 50 people in your family and personal network
that love what you love, have similar music tastes, know what you are all about
and trust you. It is very important to have your first supporters primed and
ready to contribute right after you launch. This provides the public social
proof of your credibility so that other backers follow their lead.

Pro-tip 1:An email with a short, but
compelling story about your campaign along with careful targeting of the
recipients can go a very long way. Never forget to include the link to the
campaign, preferably accompanied with a clear call to action and a description
of how Gigalize works.

Pro-tip 2: Don’t spam. Spamming is
not only annoying - it can kill an otherwise perfectly executed campaign by
creating negative buzz.

Thank your supporters publicly on your campaign’s page comments and via social
media. Facebook is great place to say "Thanks for the contribution Anna - can't
wait to make this gig happen!". This builds credibility for your project
to spiral out to a wider network. Keep this up throughout your entire campaign
and establish a consistent communication with your backers.

Pro-tip 1: Try to mention people on
Facebook (using the @ symbol before entering their name) or tag them on photos
to reach a bigger audience.

Pro-tip 2:On Twitter, mention others using @ inside the message,
not at the beginning. If you have to use it at the beginning, type .@ in order
to reach all your followers.

Step 4- Spiral out to your social network.

Announce your project on your email list, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr
and any other social media you use. The message should reflect your character
and should offer value to your network. Don't make it too generic or leave it
without a clear call-to-action. You want your network to know what’s your
campaign about, find real value and support it. Test your messages and be
prepared to adapt your tone.

Pro-tip 1: Facebook “Likes” are largely useless as they add nothing to the
campaign and distract people from visiting and backing your actual campaign.
Try to drive people to your campaign with a clear call to action (e.g. “click
here to support my campaign”) and don’t settle for Facebook “likes”.

Pro-tip 2: Hijacking that is legal.
Try to spread the word by commenting in Facebook posts, Twitter discussions,
Youtube, forums and blogs. Stay relevant and add a personal touch to your
messages so that they won’t be considered as spam.

Pro-tip 3: Organize a blast. A blast is a message arranged to be
posted by a number of people at the same time in order to rise above the noise
present in the social media and gain widespread attention. Successful blasts
can become trending topic on Twitter and reach out to supporters previously
unaware of the campaign. Blasts can only be used scarcely (preferably once) in
a campaign's lifecycle and it is necessary to have already backers to be
successful. We advise blasts to be organized close to the middle of a
campaign's cycle or when 50% of the goal target has been reached.

Step 5- Let the story
unfold.

Update your campaign page on a daily basis by adding blog post links and comments
– you can even change your current video or add new videos. This is a great way
to keep your supporters aware of how your campaign is doing. Your campaign is a
virtual event that must be nourished. Publicize and celebrate accomplished and
upcoming milestones - e.g. quantitative goals (completion percentage, number of
contributors, etc.) and qualitative (blog mentions, press, etc.).

Pro-tip 1: Update on every website
and social media you have presence on. There are people everywhere curious to
find out how your campaign is doing.

Step 6- Keep them
talking.

Find fun ways to stay relevant and keep your supporters coming back by adding
new layers to the journey. This could come through live events and meetups, or
other imaginative short-term initiatives. The goal is to keep your network
talking and coming back to the campaign page. Your network will see and reward
your hard work.

Pro-tip 1:You can use the comment section of your campaign page
to gather attendance to the event or use a service built for this purpose.
Meetup.com is a great place to set up a group and fix the venue and date of the
event.

Pro-tip 2:Arrange an event at a club that is known in the genre
of the artist, e.g. a jazz club is ideal when campaigning for a jazz band. Club
owners are usually very eager to arrange events that secure high attendance.
You can always contact us for help in reaching out to appropriate venues.

Step 7- Meet the press.

Once your project has momentum reach out to press, bloggers and celebrities.
Don’t be afraid – everybody loves a success story.

Pro-tip: Even if you don’t
have access to contact details, look up for journalist and bloggers on Twitter.
Almost all of them are there ;)

Step 8- Bring it home and finish strong.

Messages during the last few days should be updated faster and delivered with
more frequency. Build on your success and add a sense of urgency combined with
gratitude. Be sure to thank everybody for coming along for the ride.

Pro-tip:Does your campaign need only 25% more backers to be
deemed successful? Do you have only 5 more days before the campaign expires?
Let the supporters know and ask for their further help to bring the common goal
to the end!

Don’t
be afraid of the Dip

Most crowdsourcing
campaigns are shaped like a U - spike, dip, spike. Even the best ones.

Why? It’s the human nature.

People start off excited. Then, for some, attention fades.
Others take longer to decide. Then, the deadline gets close and the interest
spikes again.

Not only can you experience a dip in activity mid-project, but
many also experience an emotional dip.

Your passion is the key driver to success. So the most important
thing you can do is: Keep the faith.

How to approach the dip:

Think of this time as the period in which many
people in your network are deciding whether to support you or are not paying
attention to your posts and messages any more. Don’t get disappointed – they
will probably come back when the campaign deadline approaches.